Automatic regulating device for heaters.



F. SCHULZ.

AUTOMATIC REGULATING nEvrcE FOR HEATERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2.1914.

FRED ,Sem/Lz BY www l e' F. SCHULZ.

AUTOMATIC REGULATING DEVICE FOR HEATEHS.

APPLICATION FILED MAK- 2. |914.

Patented July 2, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

BY 771mm 4,65%

M m W.

/1 TTGRNE YS.

UNITED STATES PATENT o FFioEs Speolcation of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1918.

Application illed Hatch 2, 1914. Serial o. 822,054.

i To all whomvz't may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRED SCHULZ, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Regulating Devices for Heaters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in automatic regulating devices to be used in connection with heaters, employed for the heating of water or air, and in which heaters the burning substance is a gas or a vaporous hydrocarbon; and it has the object to regulate the admittance into said heater of the gaseous fuel, and the admittance of air for combustion of the same in amounts varying with the quantity of the substance heated, preserving all the while the same relative proportion of fuel gas to`air for the combustion of the same, thus makin the heater rapid, and the economy of fuel i With this object in view the heater is provided with a pipe or conduit for the delivery of fuel gas, and a conduit for the delivery of air, for the combustion of said fuel, and valves are placed in said conduits to regulate said deliveries. Another conduit is pro vided for the discharge of the heated substance, and. a thermostat is placed in said conduit, and is so connected to the aforesaid valves, as to actuate them, determining the degree of their opening by the degree of temperature inside the said conduit; opening them wider when the temperature of the thermostat falls,l and diminishing the openings when the temperature rises.

In the drawings, forming part of thisspecification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a heater for the heating of air, and provided with my automatic regulating device.

Fig. 2. is an enlarged sectional elevation through line 2-2 of Fig. 3, Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of a portion of a heater with my device attached; and Fig. 4 is an enlar ed section through the fan casing and air elivery ipe. I p 1 represents a gas burner, of the kind ordinarily used in heaters. It is located in the interior of the heater, and is provided with a gassup ly pipe 2, furnished with a gas suppl' va ve 3. An air sup ly pipe 4 isconnecte to the bottom 5 o the heater. A

valve 6'is placed inside said pipe 4, to're late the delivery ofair :for the combustion of 'the fuel,

The gas supply pipe 2 passes through the wall of pipe 4 and leads to the center of the latter, where it is bent upward, and passing through the center of valve 6, extends above said valve for some distance.

The valve 6 consists of two circular plates 9 and 11. The plate 9 is made integral with the p ipe 4, and is provided with ports 10, forming the valve seat, while the platell is made to fit underneath said plate 9, and is adapted to turn around the vertical bend of the gas supply pipe 2. The plate 11 is also provi ed with ports 12, made to correspond with the ports 10 in the plate 9, when saidV plate 11 is turned in one direction, and to close said ports, direction.

Above the valve seat 9 a hood 14 covers the terminus of the gas supply pipe 2, the upper' contracted end of which connects with the gas burner 1.

The gas, discharged at the ,end of pipe 2, becomes mixed with the air passing into the hood 14 through the ports 10 and 12 in valve 6, and is delivered through the contracted end of the hood 14 into said burner 1.

The mixture of gas and air, issuing through the tips of the burner, is further mixed with an additional supply of air, which passes through the ports 10 and 12, and enters the combustion chamber 7 of the heater through the space around the hood 14, thus bringing the proportion of air to el gasto the proper ratio required for perfect combustion.

ghe hot products of combustion are carrie charged into the chimney 15.

The air to be heated is delivered by the air Asupply pipe 16, which connects with the two circulating passa es 19 and 20 of the heater by the branches 1 and 18, and is dischar ed through the branches 22 and 23 into the discharge pipe 21.

A thermostat box 24 is placed in the discharge pipe 21. It contains in the interior the thermal element 25, which consists of two strips made of diiferent metals, having a different coeicient of expansion by heat (like steel and brass). The strips aresoldered together and are wound into a spiral; one end 26 of said s iral is fastened to a pin 27, held ri 'd in tlie wall of the thermostat box 24, whi e the other free end 28 is made to pa through the wall of said box vand to connect by means O .the adjusting Seeve 32 through the winding flue 8, and are diswhen turned in the other and tli'itd 31 "te t afg-ais!-l valve-operatingv lever29,made'fasttojthevalve plug 30.

LThefplug' 3,0-ofl the gas valve 3jcarries an' other .lever.133, which connects b means of theurod 35''fwith an. arm- 34"'on t e movable plate 11,015 the valve. c.

The air suppl pipe 16 I1sl rovided `with a fan 36,"op`eratedlby a' smal electric motor. The `object of saidfan is to force a current of air y.throughthe `circulating passages 19 and 201offthe heater, and from there dis f charge it into th'e discharge pipe 21, leading The fuel gas is admitted through the thermostat box 24 to the room or rooms to -be heated. A valve or cock 37 is provided near the outlet o f the pipe, to controlthe discharge o'f heated air into the "i electric switch 38 is placed in the circuit',"leading lto the motor, and is arranged to be operated by the thermostat in such a way; as to break the circuit, when the temperature rises above` a certain predetermined p'omt,

4and-to 'close thecircuit, when it falls below another predetermined point.`

f The operation of the heater, and the action of'my device is as followsathrough the .valve 3, and'carried through the gas pipe 2, to

' be discharged in the interiortof the hood 14, where,y as heretofore stated, it is mined with' a part of theair, vdelivered bythe plpe 4,-through the ports 10 and 12 of `valve 6.

' receives an additional'supply of air, which From there the mixture lof gas and 'air passes through the contracted end of the hood 14 into thel burner 1,'to be discharged thence thro hthe burner tips into the com bustioncham er 7 where, while burning, 1t

passed .through theports 10 and 12 of the valve 6 at the outside of the hood opening. The hotV gases of combustion, while passing through the winding flue 8, to be'y discharged l at last through the chimney 15', lose most of the heat, imparting it tothe air in the circulating passages 19 .and20 of the heater.v 1 The'airto be heated is forced by the-fan Y 36'through the supply pipe 16 'and the branches 17 andI 18 mtovtheA circulating passages 19 ,and 20, where it becomesiighly heated, while'winding through the lo g passages, and `then. it leaves the heater, and is lcarried by the pipe 21 through the thermo- `The spiral strips25 of the thermostat then coil up (due to the fall of temperature and the greater contractionI of the inner brass strip above that of the outer steel strip) ,thus pushing on the rod 31, and openf ing widerthe gasvalve 3 and the air valve 6, raising the. ame in the heater, and in thls wayv elevate `the temperature of the dis-l charged heated air.

` 'When the valve' 37 is partly closed, the circulation through the heater will be dimin# ished, and the air will pass through the thermostatl 24 at a higher temperature, heatmg l Y up the spiral strips 25, causing them to coil, and thus diminish the openings of the valve 3 and valve 6, lowering the flame of theburner, and thus lower the temperature.

of the discharged heated air.

The regulating device will thus control the size of theilame keeping it steady. The

plug 30 of the gas supply valve 3', and the movable plate 11 of the air valve 6 will re main at rest duringallthe time, the iiow of the heated air'through the discharge ipe'21 remains constant; and will4 move, a tering the size of openings, only at the instant, when the opening in the valve 37 is alteredl in'order to increase or diminish the discharge of a1r into the room or rooms, thus subJectlng the valves to al mlnlmum ,amount When the heater is not tol be'used for a considerable'time, the supply of gas from` the main isclosed at the meter, and the'supply of current to the electric motorv is cut off; when, however, the heater is not used temporarily, the gas from Athe main and the electric current to `themotor is-left open, the

with'a` triie consumptionof gas, as is evident from the'following.consideration.

line ofthe airiheating pipes, the air inthe passages 19 and 2Q will become highly heatermostat ed and the spiral strips 25 in the t will uncoil to 'a' greater extent than before, closing 'entirely the' gas valve l3, and the -ilame of the burner will become extinguished at the same time the switch 38 will break the electric circuit, stopping the motor The thermostat will then commence --to cool, and when the temperature will be-v come low enough, the spiral in the thermostat -will again throw inthe switch 38, and open' the gas valve 3, admitting. gas into the combustion chamber 7, to be ating device will then control the heater A 105 When the valve 37 is entirely closed, there will be no circulation through the entire again lighted bythe pilot jet'39. If the valve 37 will still n y remain closed, the air in the heater and .in the pipeline will soon againfbecome heated high enough to.. close the gas valve 3, and

stop the motor 36, and this process will be repeated at reilar intervals, until the valve 37 will again" e opened, establishing a cir- @lation through the pipeline.

To regulate the temperature, at which the thermostat is to act, I connect the free end of the spiral. strip 25 of the thermostat with .the rod 31 bythe adjusting sleeve 32, the

inner bore of which is tapped with a right hand tap at one end and a left hand tap at the other. The free end of the thermostat spiral 25 and the end of the rod 31 are threaded correspondingly with opposite threads, and in this way the length of the connection between the end of the spiral and the pin in the valve operating lever 29 can be lengthened or shortened, the lengthening of said connection causing the valves 3 and 4: to operate at a higher temperature, while the shortening, at a lower.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. An automatic regulating device for heaters, comprising a gas supply pipe, an inlet valve in said pipe, a pipe for the delivery of air for combustion, an air supply valve, a pipe for the delivery of the substance to be heated, a fan placed in said pipe, and adapted to force air through the same, an electric motor adapted to run said fan, an electric switch to control the current to said motor, a pipe for the discharge of the heated substance,

said pipe and connected t0 said valves and for the discharge of the heated a thermostat placed in c 'to said switch, the connection to said valves being so arranged as to increase their openings when the temperature in said thermostat falls, and to diminish said openings when it rises; while the connection with said switch to be such as to close the circuit when the temperature falls to the lowest extreme, and to break the circuit when it rises to the other extreme of the predetermined range of temperatures.

2. An automatic regulating device for heaters, comprising a gas supply pipe and a gas supply valve, a, pipe for the delivery of the. substance to be heated, a fan and an electric motor for the circulation of said substance through the heater, a switch to control the electric current to said motor, a pipe substance, a thermostat box located in said discharge pipe, a thermal member, comprising two strips of metal, soldered together, and wound into a spiral, located in the interior of said box, one end of said spiral being fastened to said box, while the other free end is connected to operate said valve and' said switch.

FRED SCHULZ. Witnesses:

G. A. PETERSON, A. SHENsoN. 

